Willow found herself trapped in darkness, bringing back traumatic memories for her.

“Ah... Aah... No... NOOO!!!” Trapped in the pitch-black space, she gripped her head with both hands, trembling and shedding tears. “I don’t want this to happen again... Dad, please...”

She had endured the darkness alone for a long enough time already.

It was no surprise that she acted that way, since even people with strong resolve felt extreme terror when confined in a space with no sound and no light.

Invisible ropes that bound her movements secured her arms, waist, and legs, gradually weakening her.

Neltarid’s betrayal was more painful than she had imagined. Although she hadn't talked to them directly, she had thought they were definitely not the type to betray them.

Neltarid was a being who became a god for the Priestess Freyja ten thousand years ago, possessing a twisted half of authority.

The Neltarid of the present, with the destruction side gone, was truly a god who loved their creations. For them to stab her and Davey in the back, thereby causing a massive global anomaly, was unbelievable.

She knew Neltarid wouldn't have been suddenly corrupted like Thanatos. The outer dimension had already been dealt with, so a god should no longer become contaminated and twisted.

“What the hell is their goal? What do they gain from this...”

They said that her very existence was a disruption to their world, but she knew that to be an obvious lie.

If Neltarid was truly brewing a massive conspiracy right now, there was no way others would just stand by and watch. Things were different from before, with plenty of powerful people helping keep the world on track.

Nonetheless, Nelatrid made their move, and now she was trapped.

Though she couldn’t calm down from the fear, one fact burned brighter and clearer within her. No matter the circumstances, she’d escape this place! She couldn’t let herself fall apart until she got the chance to tear Neltarid to pieces herself, so she’d absolutely never break.

She began to consider every option she had for escape. She couldn’t receive help at the moment. To make matters worse, Neltarid’s power was continuously constricting her and preventing any preparation before it even got started.

“First things first, this damned restraint has to go.”

She regained her composure and slowly manifested her authority. It made no sense for the high-level authority of Goddess Freyja to be suppressed by Neltarid's power. That was because even though all the authorities of the gods were unique, they shared a commonality when it came to a power struggle.

She slowly activated the unresponsive authority, and her eyes burned brightly. “I’m gonna get their ass if it’s the last thing I do. For real.”

* * *

“Neltarid, you bastard, get out here right now!” Davey shouted as soon as he arrived at Neltarid's temple, startling a few nuns who were guarding the place.

“W-What are you doing?! This is a temple!”

The Church of Neltarid had a relatively shallow foundation of nuns and priests serving it. They had once been massacred on a large scale, and the Neltarid religion itself didn’t have deep roots.

Yet Neltarid was a real, existing god. They were still protecting the Earth, and had fostered many devotees.

It was a true blue religion, not a cult.

Unlike other religions, this temple was a place where those who sought a god had no choice but to come, despite the fact that they weren't forced to believe.

The temple Davey was currently at was the very headquarters, the central point, of the global Church of Neltarid.

“Saint of Tionis, isn’t it? What’s the meaning of this?”

Even though it was a time of day with few devotees—only nuns and priests were around—his outburst was nothing short of offensive.

“Priest. Sorry, I don’t have much patience. Can I know where the apostles are?” Davey asked, suppressing his anger.

The priests exchanged glances and whispered among themselves.

“Please calm down for now. Whatever the matter is...”

Since Davey had the Church of Neltarid’s stigmata, he was in a position where he could be called a Saint. While he recognized that his current actions were definitely crossing the line, he was ready to smash the temple to pieces if need be.

At that moment, light burst from the center of the temple, and a boy with unfurled wings descended. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Kain.”

“Please calm yourself and come inside first.” He pointed to a confessional booth positioned to one side.

“You know better than anyone that I didn't come here for a leisurely confession, right? I might just blow this temple up if you keep dicking me around.”

Kain sighed bitterly, looking at the pale-faced priests and nuns. “Look at what you’ve caused. Do you see how afraid the faithful are? If you are a demigod, you should be a little more—”

“Kain,” Davey quickly interrupted. “Don't piss me off.”

Although the Kain standing before Davey was one that followed Illyna and considered her his mother, Davey had no intentions of ever getting along with that side of him.

“Please come in for now.” Kain quietly waved his hand, sending the others away. “Everyone, please step outside for a moment. We shall proceed with the revelation ritual.”

“Understood, Apostle.”

Following his polite request, the nuns and priests all quickly walked out. However, one person didn’t leave.

“What about her?”

The young girl stared at Davey and Kain with a blank expression.

“She’s a child upon whom Lord Neltarid bestowed the mark of the stigmata. She’ll become a Saintess in the future, so she is fine to be involved.”

‘Alright. Whatever.’

After everyone else had left, Kain sat in front of Neltarid’s statue and began to pray.

A faint veil spread out and enveloped the surroundings.

“Please, tell me, Davey. What’s the matter?”

“Anomalous weather is one thing, but kidnapping Willow is another entirely. Where’d you take her?”

Kain looked genuinely shocked by his words. “Willow was kidnapped?”

Davey hadn’t expected such surprise. “Are you messing with me?”

“That... we have not received any separate revelation about it.”

“The god you all serve, Neltarid, kidnapped her and even put up a barrier to keep me from coming here.”

Kain nodded with a serious expression. “I see. So that’s why there has been so much anomalous weather lately. If this continues...”

“An ice age will come,” Davey finished. “To all dimensions.”

In a way, an ice age was an ecological system for cleaning up the world. Even with the ozone layer and all that, the fact that an ice age was a possibility meant the current symptoms were clearly an anomaly.

“We haven’t received any separate revelations.”

“Then call that bastard Neltarid out here for me,” Davey harshly snarled.

The small girl who had been standing still shyly shuffled over and grabbed his arm.

“Hm?”

“No... God will be angry.” The girl, who looked very young, was scared, yet spoke up to him with bright, clear eyes. “Lord Neltarid told us to show kindness to everything in the world.”

“Little Saintess candidate, right now, your god—”

“Davey! You must not.” Kain quickly tried to stop him, cutting him off. “I’ll offer a prayer first. So please, take back your wrath.”

“Frelia came to see me. She told me not to act carelessly because winter’s coming. Didn't you know?”

“How could a mere subordinate know the will of the god?”

‘The only omnipotent one is Goddess Freyja, you bastard.’

Davey took a short breath and nodded. “Call them out.”

“If I may...” He then quickly began to pray in a mysterious language.

As he prayed on his knees with his back turned, three pairs of pure white wings of light sprouted. Valkyries, unlike the White Wings Extermination Unit, were messengers of the god who conveyed intentions.

Therefore, although they might be weaker in power than Rinne, their relative rank wasn’t lower.

“O’ solemn Father. Please hear your child’s prayer...”

As he continued his prayer, the long wings became even brighter as iridescent light dust began to scatter around them.

Then, just as an enormous power was about to burst forth, a flash of light erupted. It was as if Neltarid themself was about to descend.

Because he still believed them. Because they were still an ally.

Davey didn't think Neltarid would go so far.

He took a short breath, seeing the surrounding scenery instantly change. A miracle of the god, bestowed with Kain’s prayer.

Through that miracle, he was moved to an unknown forest, almost as if exiled. The fact that Neltarid ignored his resistance and sent him flying meant they had been accumulating power for a very long time.

“Let there be light in the beginning.”

Hearing the voice, he turned and saw the small girl, who had supposedly received Neltarid’s stigmata. Her eyes were vacant and she had her hands clasped together.

“Let there be night in the beginning.”

“Neltarid.” He frowned, realizing that Neltarid was speaking through her.

“Freyja.”

“Willow. Where the hell did you hide her?” Davey growled at them, dropping all honorifics.

Indifferent, the girl continued to speak, “The Primordial Winter is approaching. It is what was foretold because the voice of the goddess, suppressed for a long time, was not heard.”

“Can you not explain it in a way that’s easy to understand? Do you really want to die?”

“The sleeping Goddess has bestowed upon a girl the authority of harmony, precisely to prevent the Primordial Winter.”

“And that’s Willow.”

“However, the new goddess is still too young. No one can help her. She must find and climb that stairway herself.”

With that finished, the girl stumbled and then collapsed. For the girl who looked to be just over ten years old, the possession seemed to have been too much. She was left gasping for breath.

According to Neltarid, the Primordial Winter—which Goddess Freyja had been keeping at bay before falling asleep—was slowly coming now that she was asleep. To solve this, she had selected and implanted her high-level authority within Willow.

However, that girl was still too inexperienced and young to handle the authority.

“So you kidnapped her to force her to awaken her authority? Are you serious right now?”

As he let out battle aura, the girl trembled and fell to her knees. She was so terrified that she wet herself and looked up at him with teary, shaking eyes. “I... I... I don't want to die...”

There was nothing to say. He knew the child had done nothing wrong. He was furious at Neltarid, who had disappeared after saying their piece, but he couldn't take it out on this small saintess candidate.

“There’s no reason to play along with that jerk.”

He tried to tear through the air to take the girl back to Earth.

However, spears of light suddenly flew in from all directions and shot toward him.

Screeech!

With a massive shockwave, the surrounding forest shook.

Seeing the nameless girl scream and try to run away in a panic, he instinctively snatched her up to keep her safe.

Clearly, Neltarid was trying to stop him from leaving this dimension.

“This probably means they want me to stay out of everything until Willow awakens her true power.”

No answer came, but there was no need for a confirmation anyways when it was so obvious.

It wasn’t long before Davey could finally see the surroundings clearly. The place he was in was a dimension, yet not quite.

It was Neltarid’s space. They were using all their power to keep him here.

Davey immediately transformed his entire body. His hair grew long, and his frame became slender. An existence without gender.

Spears of light continued to pour down, trying to stop him.

He sneered in response. “How about a little rank check while I’m at it?”

He gathered a massive spark in his free hand. He had two plans in mind. Either he would smash this entire space, look for Willow, and find a way to retrieve the unwanted authority she held, or he would look for another method.

However, the sound suddenly disappeared.

Davey, startled, pulled the girl close and unleashed all his power.

Thud!!

With a tremendous noise, the surroundings instantly changed. He saw a world that had been completely frozen.

“This is...”

“This is the winter that is about to come. Do not interfere. If you interfere, this future will inevitably come upon all dimensions.”

Neltarid showed him the world as it would be when the Primordial Winter arrived. The fact that it took him a massive amount of power just to escape the range of influence meant others would be frozen solid in an instant.

The Primordial Winter wasn’t a disaster; it was a work of deliberate design. It was a system created by the Goddess, so the world’s law showed no reaction to it.

Davey wondered if Goddess Freyja had simply not bothered telling him about it directly because she believed Willow would surely succeed.

He was furious at how heavy a burden she had placed on that small child’s shoulders.

Not long after, the world reverted again, the surroundings changing back to the familiar temple.

“Have you returned?”

“Yeah.”

“What did you do there... No, wait! Agatha! What happened to you!” Kain, startled, rushed over to the Saintess candidate and took her in his arms.

She was soaking wet and utterly terrified.

“Why on earth did you terrify her?!” he yelled at Davey, uncharacteristically furious.

Davey scoffed. “Do you want to die?”

“No, I have to say what’s on my mind! Did this child do something wrong?!”

‘Why is this bastard making me look like the bad guy?’

Needlessly enraged, Davey lightly kicked him in the shin.

“Ughhh!” Kain yelped and jumped.

“They want me to trust them and wait, huh?”

“Ugh. Yes, the sacred Neltarid said Willow will definitely succeed in awakening.”

“Do you even know how heavy a burden they placed on her?”

“It was absolutely necessary. By the way, a revelation came down right after you were moved.”

“What now?”

“It said that if she succeeds in awakening, Lady Willow will gain the means to descend into middle earth without issue.”

‘Okay, that changes things.’

“Tell me in detail.”

“I don’t know the details either. Just that it’ll be possible...”

‘These Valkyrie are absolutely useless.’

“Fine. I’ll trust Neltarid this time.”

“Thank you. Oh, and another revelation came down.”

“What is it now?”

“Please teach Agatha.”

“What?”

Agatha was the small Saintess candidate Kain was holding.

“Please teach her holy magic, and how to live in the world. That is the price for the god having orchestrated this whole affair.”

It was as if Neltarid were saying they’d take the fall for everything and help Willow awaken, in exchange for Davey teaching Agatha.

“It's my freedom to teach whatever I think is best, right?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t regret it.”

Davey said to the terrified Saintess candidate, Agatha, “First, I’ll teach you how to pray.”

‘If Neltarid will take good care of Willow, I’ll accept this petty deal.’